Thu 5 Apr 2007
Obituary: LESLIE WALLER (1923-2007).
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Crime Fiction IV , Obituaries / Deaths Noted[15] Comments
There are events in the real world that you, I am sure, would find hard to believe if someone would take them simply as they happened and write them up as part of a work of fiction. Noted comic book writer Arnold Drake died in mid-March at the age of 83. Spy fiction author Leslie Waller died on March 29th, four days before his 84th birthday.
The connection? In 1950 as “Drake Waller” the two men collaborated as the author of It Rhymes with Lust, considered to be the first graphic novel, a digest-sized work in comic book form. Of marginal interest as a crime novel, it nonetheless was recently added as a marginal entry to Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin. See the online Addenda, Part 12.
Two men, born within a year of each other, worked on one key book together in their 20s, went their own professional ways, and then died within weeks of each other. Destiny sometimes moves in mysterious ways.
Not all of Mr. Waller’s bibliography consists of crime-related fiction, but a large portion of it is, with espionage, crooked bankers and Mafia elements predominant.
He was in fact a Gold Medal writer, as a book simply titled “K” (Gold Medal, 1963) was a plot to assassinate Khrushchev during a visit to the US.
His final work of fiction was Target Diana, a trade paperback with low distribution in which Princess Diana was murdered by a rogue agent, with the secret approval of the Royal Family.
Excluding It Rhymes with Lust, but expanded to included Target Diana, Leslie Waller’s output as recorded in CFIV looks like this:
WALLER, LESLIE (1923-2007); see pseudonyms C. S. Cody & Patrick Mann.
* “K” (n.) Gold Medal, pbo, 1963 [Chicago, IL]
* A Change in the Wind (n.) Geis 1969
* The American (n.) Putnam 1970 [Europe]
* The Coast of Fear (n.) Doubleday 1974 [Italy; WWII]
* The Swiss Account (n.) Doubleday 1976 [Switzerland]

* Trocadero (n.) Delacorte 1978 [Paris]
* Gameplan (n.) Bantam 1984
* Embassy (n.) McGraw 1987 [London]
* Amazing Faith (n.) McGraw 1988 [Europe]
* Deadly Sins (n.) Heinemann. UK, 1992
* Mafia Wars (n.) Onyx 1993
* Tango Havana (n.) Heinemann, UK, 1993 [Havana, Cuba]
* Manhattan Transfer (n.) Heinemann. UK, 1994 [New York City, NY]
* Eden (n.) Severn, UK, 1997
* Target Diana (n.) Transatlantic Publishers, pb, 2001.
CODY, C(harles) S.; pseudonym of Leslie Waller.
* The Witching Night (n.) World 1952 [Indiana]
* Lie Like a Lady (n.) Ace, pbo, 1955 [Chicago, IL]

MANN, PATRICK; pseudonym of Leslie Waller.
* Dog Day Afternoon (n.) Delacorte 1973 [New York City, NY]
* -The Vacancy (n.) Putnam 1973
* Steal Big (n.) St. Martin’s 1981 [England]
I haven’t happened to have found a cover image for Tango Havana (1993), but I did come across a description of the plot. Hoping to provide an idea of the kind of stories Mr. Waller wrote, I’ll include it here:
And taken from the same book, here’s a short “About the Author” biography:
“From his first marriage he has two daughters and four granddaughters. He married Patricia Mahen in 1967, moving to Italy and eventually England. After 15 years abroad they now live in Naples, Florida where he writes, lectures and contributes to Florida’s leading cultural magazine, the Naples Review.”
Although some sources say Mr. Waller wrote several screenplays, IMDB mentions only his work as a writer for the TV show Falcon Crest, and that a non-fiction book he wrote, Hide in Plain Sight was made into a 1980 film starring James Caan. Not stated on IMDB, as Patrick Mann he also wrote the book which novelized the film Dog Day Afternoon. Either of these may be where the confusion arises.
Even though it’s not included in CFIV, some of the behavior displayed on Falcon Crest was definitely criminous in behavior. Below you’ll find a image of the cover of the book, a novelization of the TV series written by Patrick Mann, a.k.a. Leslie Waller, once again the man behind the pen name.
[UPDATE] 12-02-08. Based on a suggestion included in an email I received from Dan Bara today, Al Hubin agrees that the following two titles by Leslie Waller are crime-related and should appear in CFIV. The brief descriptions of each were found by me and helped Al make the call:
Mr Lewis,
I believe books that have crime/mystery tones that are not listed in your blog post are: The Banker (1963) and The Family (1968).
Hope that helps!
Good Day, Dan
Descriptions from various sources:
The Family.
FROM THE FRONT COVER: Slashes deeper than the Godfather, “sex, sadism, violence, money, power, evil.”
“An explosive story that bares the link between the big-time bankers and big-time crime.”
The Banker.
The money man: He owned villas in France, Italy, Switzerland, England, Germany & the Caribbean–each outfitted with emperor-sized round beds …. He was a juggler of power & people, keeping an uneasy balance between the broads he bought, the men he bled, the Swiss bankers & mafia musclemen he did business with. He was one step ahead of the SEC, the IRS, & the Justice Department. He was the wheeler-dealer king of international finance.
Woods Palmer moves into the field of intrigue and counter-intrigue in the big business world of banking in America.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Thanks for this, interesting! I thought, though, that Mann/Waller wrote the book on which the film DOG DAY AFTERNOON was based on. Curiously, the book was translated for the first time in Finnish just one or two years back and the publisher announced it to be the basis for the famous film.
>> I’ll have to look into this again. Some sources imply that the book came first, while others say that it was a novelization. IMDB for example says that the movie was based on an non-fiction article by P. F. Fluge and Thomas Moore, with no mention of the Mann/Waller work. –Steve
June 17th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Hello,
I have been reading Leslie Waller a lot, I am amazed what a good writer he was. Do you have any pictures of him? I need to see who writes this brilliantly.
thanks
Andrea
June 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Andrea
Here’s one:
Taken from from an online obituary here.
Best
Steve
October 14th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Was leslie Waller a Chicagoan in his youth and did he atend Burnside Elem. School?
November 14th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Leslie Waller was a Chicagoan in his youth. I do not know if he attended Burnside Elem. He was the nephew of Chicago Lawyer, Alex Elson, who passed away in March or April, 2008 at the age of 103!
November 28th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Mr. Waller actually started writing much earlier.Other published works are:
Three Day Pass (1945),Show Me the Way (1947),The Bed she Made (1951) and about half a dozen others before your list started.
November 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Thanks, Dan. My list consists only of his crime fiction, which is why it didn’t include the books you mention.
These early ones don’t appear to be criminous — gauging from the titles, that is. If I’m wrong, or if some of the other books you know about have crime or mystery elements in them, do let me know!
— Steve
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
As you’ll have seen in the Update I just included in the original post, Dan suggested two more titles which have been accepted by Al Hubin as being criminous. Both will appear in a forthcoming update to the online Addenda to the Revised CFIV. Thanks, Dan!
— Steve
June 21st, 2009 at 8:55 pm
One of my father’s first books was what we now call a graphic novel, “It Rhymes with Lust”. It was published in the late 40s with his friend and occasional writing partner Arnie Drake. Black Horse Comics reissued the book in 2006 (I think), but both men passed away before the release date, within three weeks of each other.
Also, yes, Les did write the novel for “Dog Day Afternoon”, under the name Patrick Mann, a play on his wife’s name, Patricia Mahen.
– Liz Waller
August 26th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Dear Elizabeth,
Can you tell me where in Calabria your father lived?
I now have read most of his books, and visited a couple of sites in and around Basel about which he writes. It is real fun. My next target is Morcote.
I live in Belgium, so it’s not that far.
thanks
Andrea
ezerandrea@hotmail.com
October 26th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Dear Elizabeth
My name is Patricia Englund. I was a friend of Pat Mahen whom I met in the late nineteen fifties, before she and Les were married. I visited them both when they were living in London and Pat visited me in Connecticut when she and Les had returned to the United States.They had moved to Naples,however,Pat was in NY for a brief visit and came to Conecticut to see me before returning to Florida
I would very much like to have information of her..is she well? where does she live now? how mightI might contact her?
If it not too much trouble I would love an email from you regarding the above at my email address.
If you decide to respond on the RESPONSE line I shall be happy as well to have news of her there.
I might add that we had some good times in London at their lovely apartment as well as at dinners and theatre.
Very best regards
Patricia
October 26th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’ve answered both of the above questions privately, but in case anyone else is interested, the quick answers are:
1. Roccella Ionica
2. My father’s wife, Patricia Mahen, passed away about a year after my Dad. And, yes, it was a play on his wife’s name, which led Dad to use Patrick Mann as one of his noms de plume (Dog Day Afternoon).
December 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I am a fan of Woods Palmer series. I read the 5 books from Palmer and Trocadero. Leslie was a fantastic writer who I like better.
March 10th, 2023 at 9:08 pm
We were friends of Pat and Les when they lived in Naples Fl. I became very close to Pat and loved to hear her beautiful voice. She -suffered a lot before she died, Les was in a home in N. Y. State and Pat in a dismal place in Naples. My husband played Poker with Les. and when they hosted a party Les would play the piano. Les only spoke when he had to and Pat was the belle of the ball. She said she was Irish and Spanish. They both loved to party and we were a group . Miss them both.
March 11th, 2023 at 12:54 pm
Thanks for sharing such good memories with us!